"These charges are frivolous and totally without merit," reads a statement released by McIver's office. "The Council's standard and existing contracting procedures were followed to the letter in this case and the contract was authorized by the Council President."

The Seattle P-I first reported the connection between McIver and the contract early last year in an article examining Seattle's relatively loose contracting rules. After that report was published, the city received an official complaint about the contract, said Wayne Barnett, director of the commission.

Beyond the statement released by his office, McIver declined to discuss the allegations. He referred questions to his lawyer, Bill McGillin, of the City Attorney's Office, who also declined to comment.

Francis could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

In an early 2007 interview with the P-I, McIver defended his decision to hire Griffin Hill for the job of evaluating the performance of the City Auditor's Office.

"They can do the job well. And I wanted to use a minority(-owned) firm," said McIver, who was then chairman of the budget committee. "There aren't a lot of black firms around town that I don't know the principals."

At the time, then-council President Nick Licata also stood by his decision to sign off on the contract.

The Ethics Commission is expected to hold a hearing on the case in mid-June. McIver could be fined as much as $15,000, although it is considered unlikely the commission would impose such a high penalty. Different staffers from the City Attorney's Office will represent the ethics agency, as is routine practice in such cases to avoid the added expense of hiring outside attorneys, officials said.

For about 10 years, McIver has made annual two-week winter trips to Francis' Virgin Islands condominium, according to the commission's charging papers. Shortly after one such stay with the Francises, from Dec. 26, 2006, through early January 2007, McIver signed the initial $37,000 contract with the firm, the document says. Last May, McIver added $5,000 to that contract.

Several people connected to Griffin Hill, including three of its principals, have contributed more than $4,500 to McIver's three campaigns since 1997. McIver is also in a fraternity with one of the firm's founders, who no longer works there, McIver said last year.

Francis donated the maximum allowed to McIver's 2005 campaign, as did her husband. In 2006, McIver backed Francis' unsuccessful bid for appointment to the City Council. Last fall, Francis was among the attorneys to represent McIver after he was charged with domestic violence assault. The charges were ultimately dropped.

Other than the Virgin Island vacations, none of these connections is mentioned in the charging papers.

McIver indicated in his statement that he doesn't believe the fact that he is a "social acquaintance" with a minority partner of the firm should have precluded the award. "If that were prohibited conduct, few, if any, local companies could do any business with the city," it says.

The councilman rejected an offer to settle this ethics case with the commission, Barnett said. Barnett declined to discuss how much he had proposed McIver pay.

Seattle rules provide city agencies few restrictions on awarding contracts worth less than $41,000. Even with larger contracts, officials are not usually required to invite competitive bids unless they are worth more than $241,000, so long as the agencies choose companies on the city's long list of preapproved contractors. Griffin Hill is on that list and has won numerous public contracts in recent years.

The state of Washington and King County have considerably more stringent contracting rules.

In the charging papers, Barnett acknowledges that Griffin Hill "was qualified to perform the contract, and has been hired subsequently by the Office of the City Auditor without the involvement of Councilmember McIver."

But Barnett alleges McIver violated ethics rules prohibiting officials from engaging in any activity which: "is, or would to a reasonable person appear to be, in conflict with or incompatible with the proper discharge of official duties ... or appear to impair, the officer's or employee's independence of judgment."

In early 2004, McIver agreed to pay the commission a $200 settlement for failing to disclose a $6 lunch he accepted from former Gov. Albert Rosellini before voting on the rezoning of property near Rick's strip club. Rosellini had ties to the club's owners.

Last October, McIver spent two nights in jail and was charged with fourth-degree assault after a late-night incident at his home. On the eve of trial in January, King County prosecutors dropped the charges after a judge ruled jurors would not be allowed to hear statements the alleged victim, his wife, made that night to police and a 911 operator. Marlaina Kiner-McIver had refused to testify against her husband.

McIver complained Wednesday that he wound up paying lawyers $70,000 to defend him in that case against what were "unfair" charges, especially because his wife made it clear early on that she would not testify.

"I don't think that's justice. I think that's buying justice," McIver said. "If I couldn't have afforded it, I would have had to take some deal."